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Facing a 21-point deficit, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills managed a thrilling come-from-behind victory over their AFC East foe New England Patriots, 35-31, in Foxborough on a cold Sunday morning.
Now, the AFC East is between these two AFC powerhouse, as the Bills move to 10-4 after snapping the Patriots’ 10-game win streak. New England is now 11-3 on the season, still sitting one game up on Buffalo for the division lead.
It was all Patriots at the beginning of this game thanks to MVP candidate Drake Maye, who had two rushing scores to make it 14-0 in favor of the home team in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the Patriots’ solid defensive unit forced three straight punts that allowed their offense to get to work early.
Early in the second quarter, the Patriots blew the doors open with a 94-yard touchdown drive that saw rookie TreVeyon Henderson break out a 52-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0.
Allen and the Bills’ offense, struggling to that point, were able to finally get something going on the ensuing drive to at least stay in the game. Allen found James Cook on a five-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 21-7, but the Patriots added a field goal at halftime to cruise into the locker room with a three-score lead.
But the second half was a totally different animal for Mike Vrabel’s Patriots squad, as Allen showcased his MVP style of play right from the start.
BILLS QUARTERBACK JOSH ALLEN AND WIFE HAILEE STEINFELD ANNOUNCE THEY ARE EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD
The Bills made it a 10-point game right away, as they only needed six plays to find Dawson Knox on a four-yard pass for the score. Then, Buffalo’s defense needed to step up and they did so by forcing a three-and-out, getting the ball back in Allen’s hands.
Over the next 5:29 of the third-quarter clock, Allen went 11 plays and 70 yards when Cook scored for the second time as he extended the ball over the goal line to make it 24-21.
The turning point of the game was an interception thrown by Maye, which was ultimately an “arm punt” as Tre’Davious White hauled in the deep ball attempt to Mack Hollins to secure the turnover at the Bills’ own nine-yard line.
The Bills proceeded to go 91 yards in 13 plays in the third quarter to take their first lead of the game, as Knox hauled in a 14-yard pass for his second touchdown of the game and make it a 28-24 game.
If it wasn’t thrilling enough, the Gillette Stadium crowd went ballistic as Henderson broke out another long run. On the first play of the drive, Henderson was trying to run to his right when all the holes got clogged up. But, using his blazing speed, he broke back out left and ran past all Bills defenders for a 65-yard touchdown.
The Bills found themselves down by three yet again, but the second half belonged to a more creative Bills and they displayed yet another methodical drive filled with great plays, including Cook’s third touchdown of the game. He rushed from 11 yards out to take a 35-31 lead, which was big considering a field goal couldn’t tie it up.
The Bills’ defense got two straight stops on two separate drives, including an incompletion on 4th-and-5 from New England’s 22-yard line to ice the game.
In the box score, Allen was 19-of-28 for 193 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 48 yards on 11 attempts on the ground. Cook also had 107 yards rushing with two scores on the ground on 22 carries, while hauling in two passes for four yards.
Eight different Bills players caught a pass from Allen, including Khalil Shakir, who had five catches for 65 yards.
For the Patriots, Maye was 14-of-23 through the air for 155 yards with 43 rush yards. Henderson had just 14 carries, but tallied 148 yards with his two scores.
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